does it depend on whether you are enclosed in something or not?
2006-10-04 07:00:51 · 14 answers · asked by Loopy loo 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
yes and no. yes because we carry bacteria inside our bodies that begin the decomposion process as soon as we die. no because space is cold and it'll preserve your body until you come in range of solar rays and that there is lack of oxygen which is necessary for decomposition.
2006-10-04 07:10:37 · answer #1 · answered by jqdsilva 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Great Question !!, i think it would kind of freeze dry in space and stop the bacteria working which in normal circumstances would cause the body to decompose, But i know bacteria can survive in space for long periods of time, so they would get back to work if the body was recovered - LOL i think ?.
2006-10-04 07:16:03 · answer #2 · answered by Richard 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
umm, well i'm no expert but if you were ejected into space like john hurt's body in alien then i suspect that the first thing would be the explosion of gases rushing to equalise pressure within the vacuum they now found themselves. that would be quite interesting to watch...
then, i suspect that it would depend on where in space you were, now in the case of Alien, light months from anywhere and no nearby stars then the remnants would probably freeze, however, if you were fairly close to a sun then the ultra violet rays would probably do a good job of burning you up into a few lumps of carbon and some trace elements. if you happened to be near a cosmic object kicking out some serious heavyweight gamma radiation then you would definitely be frazzled immediately. however, if you were falling into a black hole, the remnants of your body would be torn apart by differential gravity. none of these resembles decomposition by bacteria but the result is pretty much the same in the end!
2006-10-04 12:43:52 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi. All of the volatile chemicals would evaporate leaving a dry shell. This would not decompose in the normal sense (bacterial action, say) and would last a very long time.
2006-10-04 07:04:56 · answer #4 · answered by Cirric 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, a body would not decompose in space due to lack of oxygen and also due to space is just above zero degree's Kelvin (-273.15 dgrees Celcius).
Therefore, a body would freeze in space.
2006-10-04 07:10:48 · answer #5 · answered by Matthew M 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Beethoven would decompose in space
2006-10-04 12:19:03 · answer #6 · answered by GB123 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you are not in a pressurised enviroment then space is a vacuum and well all the air would be sucked out of your lungs. However i'm not sure if your body would itself be pulled apart. If not then it would just freeze.
Try looking it up on WWW.WIKIPEDIA.ORG (if that doesn't turn into a link ... http://www.wikipedia.org )
2006-10-04 07:20:48 · answer #7 · answered by paul b 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if the body was without a suit, and failed to explode such as eyes as gas from the body pushed its way out, against the vaccuum, technically it would be preserved by the freezing temperatures of space,
2006-10-04 07:25:01 · answer #8 · answered by chris s 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The body would probably freeze before it decomposes too much
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/gen99/gen99740.htm
http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/feb98/885056222.Mi.r.html
2006-10-04 07:11:05 · answer #9 · answered by Karen J 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Is there time in space and does food go off in space?
2006-10-04 07:02:32 · answer #10 · answered by Lisa 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋